Two years ago when this blog got started one of the main motivations was how much Guido detested the venality of politicians politicising all aspects of our lives at our expense. They talk about the public interest when really they are more concerned with their own self-interest. This applies to them all, George Osborne as much as Gordon Brown. In the U.S. über-blogger Glenn Reynolds regularly highlights examples of politicians with their snouts in the tax trough. Guido is sure therefore that he won’t mind the borrowing of his Pork Busters logo for a good cause.

So nominate a politician with his “Snout in the Trough”, perhaps Prezza with his grace and favour homes springs to mind, or maybe Michael Foster, the MP who wasted £3,818 on an unwanted annual report to constituents.*

Email nominations to : Pork Busting, giving the name of the MP and the reason. Guido will compile from the emails a list of MPs with their snouts deep in the public trough and then organise a readers poll. There will be a prize of a copy of bestselling The Bumper Book of Government Waste to the person who makes the best nomination.

*The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Sir Philip Mawer criticised the Worcester MP Michael Foster for using free stamps and stationary when he wrote to tell people on a mailing list that his office address had changed. The free postage is not meant to be used for circulars of any kind and Mr Foster later used his expenses allowance to pay for the letters. MPs on the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee cleared him, but the parliamentary authorities are going to ask him to repay some of the money. MPs increasingly use the allowance for publicity mailshots rather than casework.